Articles | Popular | Future

Derel Monteith, Trio and Solo

By Geno Thackara

Derel Monteith Trio Quantity of Life Self Produced 2019 The title phrase isn't quite the obvious one—isn't quality of life usually supposed to be the main thing?—but not to worry here, as Quantity of Life shows the Derel Monteith Trio offering plenty of both. The recording serves as an answer to one modern sage's famous question: “Well, how did I get here?" In the Illinois pianist's case, there were decades of work and study ...

Hal Galper Trio: The Zone: Live At The Yardbird Suite

By Dan McClenaghan

Pianist Hal Galper has rounded out a career spanning five decades with his stint at Origin Records, beginning with Furious Rubato (2007) and wrapping things up--or so it was rumored--with 2018's Cubist. Most of these are trio affairs featuring bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer John Bishop, with Cubist adding saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi to the mix. All of them respresent Galper's quest for the perfection of the elastic approach to tempo called the rubato style. And it could be credibly said ...

Flin van Hemmen: Casting Spells & The Coves

By Mark Corroto

If you live in the US you might have seen a television commercial for a mortgage company that utilizes Bob Dylan's composition “The Man In Me." Did the advertising firm choose this song because music gives us a sense of a shared experience? Certainly. Was the experience from the original Dylan recording New Morning (Columbia, 1977), or more likely, the shared occurrence come from the the soundtrack to the cult film The Big Lebowski. Does this use make mortgages cool? ...

Enrico Rava: Around the Jazz World in 80 Years - The Leader Part - 2

By Ludovico Granvassu

Second part of the Enrico Rava special focusing on his projects as leader (click here to access the first part) showcasing his range of interests from the tradition of the American Songbook, to Bitches Brew like soundscapes and Opera. This playlist features his work with the likes of Roswell Rudd, Franco D'Andrea, John Abercrombie, Gianluigi Trovesi, Aldo Romano, Javier Girotto, Richard Galliano, Tony Oxley, Marcello Melis, Nana Vasconcelos, Stefano Battaglia and many more. Ben Allison ...

Jeff Denson, Romain Pilon, Brian Blade: Between Two Worlds

By Friedrich Kunzmann

American bassist Jeff Denson and French guitarist Romain Pilon not only became professional acquaintances, but also great friends, when they began their studies at the much-revered Boston Berklee College of Music at the end of the last century. On Between Two Worlds the two celebrate their twenty years of on-and-off collaborating, with leading drum wizard Brian Blade completing the trio. In a set of mostly clear structures and highly melodic interplay between all involved, a crunchy guitar effect paired with ...

The Jazz Messengers in the 1960s (1960 - 1964)

By Russell Perry

As the 1960s began Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers were fueled by the compositions of Wayne Shorter with the front line of Shorter and Lee Morgan. In 1961, this transitioned to the last great Messengers lineup of the 1960s—and it was one of the best ever—Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Wayne Shorter on tenor, Cedar Walton on piano and Jymie Merritt on bass, propelled by compositions by Shorter, Fuller, Walton. The 1960s edition of the Jazz Messengers in ...

Aaron Parks: Finding the Way to Little Big

By Jiaowei Hu

"Always beginning. Often perplexed. Drawn to beauty and to the absurd. I play piano, write songs, and take pictures of doors with my phone. A bit odd." So is the pianist's own account on his website, written in a few scribbled sentences. About a decade ago, Aaron Parks created much of a stir through his debut album Invisible Cinema (Blue Note Records, 2008). In the cover image, the then new star was standing right before a closing door. Ten years ...

Cathy Segal-Garcia: A Weaver Of Dreams

By Dan Bilawsky

Cathy Segal-Garcia's talents are vast, and her heart is warm and open. A significant presence on the Los Angeles scene, she can proudly wear many labels —"vocalist," “songwriter," “educator," and “scene maker and sustainer" among them. But when you boil Segal-Garcia down to her essence, she's simply a weaver of dreams, a starry- eyed wanderer and free spirit who, nevertheless, possesses strong artistic instincts and the organizational savvy to pull off one unique project after another. A look at a ...

Roger Kellaway: The Many Open Minds Of Roger Kellaway

By Dan Bilawsky

There's not a single category that can contain the wit and wonder that is Roger Kellaway. Over the past 60 years he's put his musical stamp on film, television, pop, rock, new age, ballet, and modern classical forms, garnering awards and acclaim wherever his pen and piano work happen to fall. And let's not forget jazz. While Kellaway has played with a laundry list of notables from the aforementioned realms, his jazz résumé is no less impressive. Sonny Rollins, Clark ...

David S. Ware Quartet: Théâtre Garonne, 2008

By Mark Corroto

In 2008, when this live concert was recorded, saxophonist David S. Ware was ill, but concert goers would have no idea of this fact. He has been suffering, since 1999 from kidney failure and eventually had a kidney transplant in 2009. Ware and the latest configuration of his quartet traveled to Toulouse, France, just a few weeks after recording the studio album Shakti (AUM Fidelity, 2008) in Brooklyn. By the same token, listeners of that release had no idea of ...

ALA.NI on preserving the present moment in music

By Leo Sidran

Mike Murley: Taking Flight

By Don Phipps

Mike Murley's Taking Flight is a candlelight romance of well-chosen covers and two original compositions. At times, Murley's sax sound is slightly reminiscent of Ben Webster while, when he plays ballads, one can hear echoes of John Coltrane. In short, his sound is sweet and warm. Combining this sound with the elegant contributions of his bandmates gives the album a sophisticated appeal, like sipping a cosmopolitan in black tie at a glass bar. Eschewing a drummer, Murley's ensemble ...